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The destruction and reconstruction begins

Over the last 7 or 8 weeks my gardening activity has largely consisted on shifting top soil and lugging heavy pots around. My shoulders and arms are looking pretty buff. All this has been in preparation for getting the cracked retaining wall fixed.

one smash of the hammer

Top soil has been lifted, compost bins and plastic greenhouses shifted and the patio completely cleared of benches, pots and plants.

And now the work is under way!

It was quite disconcerting that a single blow of the builder’s mallet had this effect! Makes me shudder to think of the hours spent directly in the firing line of those bricks.

In just two days of work, the guys have largely removed the old wall, dug out a large part of the patio – and have wisely come up with a proposal that should gain me a few more feet of flat space by adding a small deck extension to the patio level. Room for more plants!

View with the wall removed

It’s surprising how much view has opened up with the top of the wall having been removed, so it will excellent to replace it with open decking rather than a solid wall. And hopefully it will mean more sunlight too!

The builders have kindly indulged my rabid recycling tendencies and have put all the old bricks aside so I can level out parts of the garden at a later point. But, in the short term, its mud, rocks, bricks and general chaos!